Trout For the Taking

                                                              Trout For the Taking

4/30/25 

 As I compose this story this morning I feel the effects of fishing for at least 7 hours yesterday. When I stepped out of bed, for some unknown reason, my left heel was sore to walk on. My right elbow burns now and than either from the ulnar surgery I had back in January that is still healing or the friction of my elbow joint from casting? My backbone is sore even after taking extra strength aspirin before bedtime. My nose is runny from morning allergies that seem to go away after an hour or so. Oh, I won’t even go into my arthritis finger. I’m either too young to feel this old or need to exercise more to keep in better shape?

  I fished a branch of Tionesta Creek yesterday in morning in the ANF and I was having fun with hook ups so it was hard to leave.

  On the way back to the camper in the afternoon Tionesta Creek was desolate. There wasn’t a car or fisher person to be seen. Even the camping spots along the creek were empty. Maybe because it was a warm Wednesday evening or because the creek was still on the high side and kind of opaque. It was only a little after 3:00 by then and too early to call it a day. I parked at one of the empty campsites and decided to give the creek my presence. 

 I assembled my Icon fast action 5 weight with weight forward line. I figured on making long casts as far as I could being I knew I wouldn’t be able to wade out too far. There was a couple of anglers up stream a few days before fishing around a huge branchy fallen tree. I figured I’d start there and fish my way back to the truck.

 I made my way along a narrow path through the forest. I remember I felt like a contestant in an outdoor challenge game show. I had to avoid getting poked in the eyes by small branchy twigs, trying not to trip over well placed limbs along the path and avoiding grass covered pit holes. I had to be careful walking up and down small ravines where water flowed from the nearby mountain side. I’m not sure what 68 is suppose to feel like but after fishing for about 5 hours earlier in the morning and then threading my way through the forest I think I was feeling it!

 I started casting a Woolly Bugger into the wavy current caused by the down tree limbs. A trout grabbed one of the drifts and tussled with the line in the current. I brought a small trout in pretty easily. Not getting any more grabs I slowly waded down creek casting the bugger out and letting it swing as I went.

 One thing I like about using no knot fas-snaps is that I can change streamer colors easily without shortening my tippet. Some people have claimed that the fas-snaps don’t let the buggers or streamers move to entice a strike. Well, I got tons of pictures of trout I catch using the fast-snaps! 

 It was around 3:30 as I recall with plenty of fishing challenging time left. I didn’t feel like I was racing against a game show clock or other contestants. On my way down creek I caught a couple of brown trout. One was a wide brownie that took me for a ride. He hammered the bugger and took it with him as he bolted away. The Icon 9 footer bowed and we played the trout carefully to the net. 

 Not too far down creek a rainbow took the bugger almost at the end of the drift. Upon hooking him he leaped out of the water displaying his athleticism like a high flying acrobatic sketch act on the Ed Sullivan show. He twisted and turned before entering back into the water with a splash. It didn’t take as long bringing him in but he was a fighter. 

 As I continued on I made a long cast towards the opposite bank. A trout grabbed the bugger on the swing. He raced down creek after the take and I wasn’t sure when he was going to stop. He eventually stopped down creek with a couple of hard tugs before heading back upstream. I was holding the rod up, keeping the line tight while bringing in line. He swam towards me, from the far side, and then turned quickly swimming almost directly down creek from me. I had to let some line slip through my fingers being he was pretty forceful. He played around trying to get loose with heavy tugs and pulls swimming in different directions until I got him close enough to net. He didn’t appear to like the idea when he got close enough to see me and tried to swim away. The Icon rod bowed a little deeper but I could tell he was tiring and I wouldn’t give him anymore line. I brought the rod up and he followed to the surface. He squirmed around in the net a bit before he settled down enough for me to get the bugger out of his jaw and for a quick picture before releasing him. 

  He sported some nice ruby gems along his lateral line and a couple just above his  yellowish belly. All his fins were full grown so whether he was stream bred I’m not sure but he’s been in the creek for a good while.

 Just out from where I parked I almost called it quits. I figured I’d make one more cast before wading out. I made another long cast as far as I could towards the opposite bank. My bugger plopped into the water. I was bringing in slack line, from the cast, to straighten the line before it swung down creek. A fish grabbed the bugger as it was still sinking before I was able strip in all the slack. I noticed the tip of my floating fly line slightly dip under the surface. I reared the rod up and  back pulling the slack line to straighten it. The line came up off the water and the rod tip bowed pointing towards the take. I had another trout on a tight line. He jerked the line for a second or two before heading down creek. We had another good battle and I was able to get him to the net also. 

  After him I made a few more casts before wading out.

 It had been a good day of catching and I was ready to relax and eat.

~doubletaper